Nature Essay
I wrote the nature essay to link my experience with nature with Emerson and Thoreau's experiences. I wrote about how my experience with nature wasn't like normal experiences; my experience included the ocean instead of trees and fish instead of insects. I learned how to include more sensory detail. This writing was easy to practice sensory detail on because writing about an enjoyable experience is fun and I could include personal detail in it. Writing about nature was more fun to relate to because it was about me and what I saw, not a character from a book. When I revised this piece of writing I added much more description in my actual experience. I also tied in Emerson & Thoreau's views into my experience more.
Memoir
In this writing, along with the nature essay, I was trying to practice using alot of sensory detail. I used the many different types of brushstrokes we learned in class and in this essay I had fun too. Again, I was able to write about me and my personal experience instead of having to analyze someone else's work. I enjoy this much more than doing a review from a book that I barely understand.
To revise my memior I added and took out so many sentences and words. I practically changed my entire paper when I revised it the first couple of times. There were several parts that started to stray away from the main story that I had to erase. Also I kept remembering funny or important details about it that made the story. I also added a little more descriptive language when I revised it the last time.
I didn't see the connection until this reflection but my two favorite pieces of writing were very similar. Both pieces were papers that I wrote about a time or experience in my life. I chose these two because they were my favorite; I felt like I did a better job of portraying the picture of what I wanted to write, in my head, to the paper. I used a much better vocabulary when I was writing about something I enjoyed.
I learned, in this class, more about commas and how to use them. I also learned the different styles of detailed sensory language and what the different types are called. Taking English III also reminded me how to write better, in a sense of me not getting distracted in my papers and staying on topic. One other thing I learned, had nothing to do with the Google Documents, was how to prepare for an essay on a major test. I didn't do very well on one essay but pretty well on the other and I'm excited that I am learning this before I get to college when they don't walk to you through it like Mrs. Turner does.
Classmates
Three of my favorite pieces of writing were Chelsea's Nature essay, Molly's Nature Essay and Hannah's Crucible Essay. Chelsea used alot of funny metaphors and similes. She also described her experience differently than alot of people; and that made hers unique in a good way. In Molly's essay she did a really good job, to me, in corporating the idea of transcendentalism to her experience. I liked the way it tied in and that it was pretty deep. Along with Molly and Chelsea's writings I enjoyed reading Hannah's essay about the crucible. She compared a character to fire, which was interesting and I like the way her essay was organized. She did a really great job of writing this piece.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Gauntlet Departure
All nervous for the excitement to come, it was going to be the first church camp I had ever gone to and this wasn't going to be any normal church trip. At seven o'clock Sunday night, June 10th I packed the last minute items necessary for a nine hour bus ride.
Our minds racing, bodies shaking, and hearts beating rapidly we realized that in only four short hours over four hundred ecstatic middle and high school students would be on their way to Panama City Beach, Florida. My mom drove Rachel and me to church that night. We were so excited that we screamed all night until we arrived. The one thing that silenced us was the sight of how many people were already there! At least three hundred people, kids and adults, were already trying to fight through the chaos. My anxious stomach was doing flips like never before.
After checking in and making my way through the thick crowd to load luggage our brief instructions were to drop our belongings at our buses and meet in the sanctuary so the leaders could get everything in order. As we found our friends, roommates and leaders we didn't stop talking. Everything from seeing long lost friends to screaming at the ones we'd been with all night was a routine for everyone. Brad Cooper, in his traveling clothes, was obviously just as excited all the rest of us. After what had seemed like three days almost everyone was settled in the sanctuary. Brad, now calm and collected, took a moment to lead all five hundred of us in prayer for the trip and also for the emotional story of the Caler's. Through every bit of excitement we were all just so thankful for everything we were able to do at that moment. As we remembered the accident a few nights before we were so thankful just for life itself. As Brad wrapped up prayer the flips my stomach was doing got even worse; it was like this for everyone! One of the most exciting parts was the roaring buses in our ears and finding our ways through the cloudy diesel exhaust.
"Bus Two!" Brad and Aldin yelled together.
Running wildly from their seats, the middle school students boarded their bus. It was exhilarating to watch young teenagers get this excited for a church trip.
Finally I heard, "BUS SIX!" I was so excited! My friends and I along with many other students made our way to the bus. As we all found our seats and we awaited departure I realized that I had never met the leader I was assigned to live with for a week. This seemed like a pretty important part of the trip so I decided to call her over and let her meet her new girls, anxious to introduce myself.
"Hey are you Kristina because if so I'll be living with you for the next five days!" I think my excitement showed as the words all came out together so quick; I had made my first impression.
Kristina smiled laughingly and said she was excited to get to meet us and that she couldn't wait to worship with us all week. From this, she seemed like a nice person but the only thing I was thinking through the conversation was that she didn't seem as happy about it as us. The first thing her attitude said to me was that she would be strict and no fun. I assumed that we wouldn't get along... at all.
The rest of the night was fun and relaxing at the same time. The boys on the bus entertained while the girls talked and laughed. We ate, talked, sang, played games, sang, talked and most of us got a couple hours of sleep. This continued until we arrived at our first destination at eight o'clock. We had stopped in the Home Depot parking lot to eat over six hundred Chick-fil-A biscuits! We continued to forget about Brad's warning of staying up all night until we finally got to our final destination. At nine o'clock AM Saturday, June 11 over six hundred people flooded onto Panama City Beach's 'The Majestic' to learn about our eventful week ahead. Needless to say, everyone of us were dead tired and slightly regretted not taking our only advantage of good sleep on those buses. Every part including the sun beaming down, Saturday's message, games and every minute we had off were exhausting. Kristina turned out to be the sweetest, most caring and most trustworthy leader anyone could have asked for. My assumptions were thankfully, wrong. Since that trip Kristina has become my leader, mentor and best friend. I will never forget the excitement, worries and frustration that carried through the air onto nine charter buses full of restless teenagers. The Gauntlet 2007 is a memory I will never forget.
Our minds racing, bodies shaking, and hearts beating rapidly we realized that in only four short hours over four hundred ecstatic middle and high school students would be on their way to Panama City Beach, Florida. My mom drove Rachel and me to church that night. We were so excited that we screamed all night until we arrived. The one thing that silenced us was the sight of how many people were already there! At least three hundred people, kids and adults, were already trying to fight through the chaos. My anxious stomach was doing flips like never before.
After checking in and making my way through the thick crowd to load luggage our brief instructions were to drop our belongings at our buses and meet in the sanctuary so the leaders could get everything in order. As we found our friends, roommates and leaders we didn't stop talking. Everything from seeing long lost friends to screaming at the ones we'd been with all night was a routine for everyone. Brad Cooper, in his traveling clothes, was obviously just as excited all the rest of us. After what had seemed like three days almost everyone was settled in the sanctuary. Brad, now calm and collected, took a moment to lead all five hundred of us in prayer for the trip and also for the emotional story of the Caler's. Through every bit of excitement we were all just so thankful for everything we were able to do at that moment. As we remembered the accident a few nights before we were so thankful just for life itself. As Brad wrapped up prayer the flips my stomach was doing got even worse; it was like this for everyone! One of the most exciting parts was the roaring buses in our ears and finding our ways through the cloudy diesel exhaust.
"Bus Two!" Brad and Aldin yelled together.
Running wildly from their seats, the middle school students boarded their bus. It was exhilarating to watch young teenagers get this excited for a church trip.
Finally I heard, "BUS SIX!" I was so excited! My friends and I along with many other students made our way to the bus. As we all found our seats and we awaited departure I realized that I had never met the leader I was assigned to live with for a week. This seemed like a pretty important part of the trip so I decided to call her over and let her meet her new girls, anxious to introduce myself.
"Hey are you Kristina because if so I'll be living with you for the next five days!" I think my excitement showed as the words all came out together so quick; I had made my first impression.
Kristina smiled laughingly and said she was excited to get to meet us and that she couldn't wait to worship with us all week. From this, she seemed like a nice person but the only thing I was thinking through the conversation was that she didn't seem as happy about it as us. The first thing her attitude said to me was that she would be strict and no fun. I assumed that we wouldn't get along... at all.
The rest of the night was fun and relaxing at the same time. The boys on the bus entertained while the girls talked and laughed. We ate, talked, sang, played games, sang, talked and most of us got a couple hours of sleep. This continued until we arrived at our first destination at eight o'clock. We had stopped in the Home Depot parking lot to eat over six hundred Chick-fil-A biscuits! We continued to forget about Brad's warning of staying up all night until we finally got to our final destination. At nine o'clock AM Saturday, June 11 over six hundred people flooded onto Panama City Beach's 'The Majestic' to learn about our eventful week ahead. Needless to say, everyone of us were dead tired and slightly regretted not taking our only advantage of good sleep on those buses. Every part including the sun beaming down, Saturday's message, games and every minute we had off were exhausting. Kristina turned out to be the sweetest, most caring and most trustworthy leader anyone could have asked for. My assumptions were thankfully, wrong. Since that trip Kristina has become my leader, mentor and best friend. I will never forget the excitement, worries and frustration that carried through the air onto nine charter buses full of restless teenagers. The Gauntlet 2007 is a memory I will never forget.
Nature
Nature
Think about nature. Do you think of trees, the woods, leaves, grass and sticks? Most people do think about these things when they relate nature to their own lives. When nature is first brought to mind I, however, think about the time I went to Miami Beach, Florida. I love the trees and woods, of course but I get more frustrated with trees and grass than I do looking over the ocean to the sun setting across the still water. There is always something bothering me when I'm in the woods, there is always a branch breaking or a spider crawling over a rock, which I hate. When I look at the ocean I see a peacefulness that is hard to find in an everyday routine. I do not completely disagree with Emerson and Thoreau's views on nature but I do have my own opinions about what the two of them have to say.
Emerson writes that the power of nature lies in man, or in a harmony of both man and nature but not nature alone. "Yet it is certain that the power to produce this delight, does not reside in nature, but in man, or in a harmony of both." I agree with this because two people can see the same exact horizon or flower or sunset and have two completely opposite oppinions. I believe that if you open your heart to the scenery around you it can be absorbed and transformed in a person's mind to be a beautiful masterpiece. I feel like Emerson was saying this when he said that the power to produce this delight is in a harmony of both nature and in man, but not in nature alone. No person with a closed mind and pessimistic personality can fully enjoy a blindingly beautiful sunset as well as an optimistic person who is looking forward to the magnificent view. One of the reasons I enjoyed my experience in Miami Beach so much was because I was able to sit on the edge of a boat dock and witness so many boats, waves, the wind blowing, pelicans diving for dinner and, the most beautiful, breathtaking sunset anyone could ask for. I opened up my mind and heart to this view. I could have said the sun was too bright, the air was too cool and the waves were disturbing and that I didn't like the splashing of birds but I took all of this in and enjoyed it.
Thoreau writes "... I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Thorough believed that everything in the world is a reflection of a divine soul, which I don't believe. I do believe that through nature you can connect to your inner self and focus on the true things in your heart and mind. However, because of my religious beliefs I disagree that nature is a reflection of the divine soul. When I experienced the ocean and sunset my thoughts and daydreams ran wild. I could have lay there for days daydreaming in the peacefulness.
My experience in nature is different, but alike at the same time, to Emerson & Thoreau's experiences. I was able to enjoy nature and think alot by myself. I sat halfway up on the edge of a dock with my feet in the salty water, until the six foot long fish came up, and just watched. I heard children laughing and screaming, fishermen yelling and moms scolding toddlers for waddling too close to the edge of the water. These along with taxi cabs honking horns and the delicious smell of fresh seafood dinners brought me back to earth and reminded me that I still needed to get ready for dinner. Nature does have a way of bringing someone away from their troubles. My favorite part of the entire experience was, by far, the golden sunset stretching across the miles of open water. The lower the sun, the more white-capping was introduced by the ocean. I belive that is how mother nature was telling seamen to leave the danger of the hungry night-dwellers and go home to their own hungry families.
Emerson and Thoreau are great writers and I agree with most of what they write. I enjoy reading their experiences and be able to remember mine. My experience is so different than Emerson or Thoreau's view of nature, yet it has very similar details that connect the two. I had a wonderful nature experience.
Think about nature. Do you think of trees, the woods, leaves, grass and sticks? Most people do think about these things when they relate nature to their own lives. When nature is first brought to mind I, however, think about the time I went to Miami Beach, Florida. I love the trees and woods, of course but I get more frustrated with trees and grass than I do looking over the ocean to the sun setting across the still water. There is always something bothering me when I'm in the woods, there is always a branch breaking or a spider crawling over a rock, which I hate. When I look at the ocean I see a peacefulness that is hard to find in an everyday routine. I do not completely disagree with Emerson and Thoreau's views on nature but I do have my own opinions about what the two of them have to say.
Emerson writes that the power of nature lies in man, or in a harmony of both man and nature but not nature alone. "Yet it is certain that the power to produce this delight, does not reside in nature, but in man, or in a harmony of both." I agree with this because two people can see the same exact horizon or flower or sunset and have two completely opposite oppinions. I believe that if you open your heart to the scenery around you it can be absorbed and transformed in a person's mind to be a beautiful masterpiece. I feel like Emerson was saying this when he said that the power to produce this delight is in a harmony of both nature and in man, but not in nature alone. No person with a closed mind and pessimistic personality can fully enjoy a blindingly beautiful sunset as well as an optimistic person who is looking forward to the magnificent view. One of the reasons I enjoyed my experience in Miami Beach so much was because I was able to sit on the edge of a boat dock and witness so many boats, waves, the wind blowing, pelicans diving for dinner and, the most beautiful, breathtaking sunset anyone could ask for. I opened up my mind and heart to this view. I could have said the sun was too bright, the air was too cool and the waves were disturbing and that I didn't like the splashing of birds but I took all of this in and enjoyed it.
Thoreau writes "... I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Thorough believed that everything in the world is a reflection of a divine soul, which I don't believe. I do believe that through nature you can connect to your inner self and focus on the true things in your heart and mind. However, because of my religious beliefs I disagree that nature is a reflection of the divine soul. When I experienced the ocean and sunset my thoughts and daydreams ran wild. I could have lay there for days daydreaming in the peacefulness.
My experience in nature is different, but alike at the same time, to Emerson & Thoreau's experiences. I was able to enjoy nature and think alot by myself. I sat halfway up on the edge of a dock with my feet in the salty water, until the six foot long fish came up, and just watched. I heard children laughing and screaming, fishermen yelling and moms scolding toddlers for waddling too close to the edge of the water. These along with taxi cabs honking horns and the delicious smell of fresh seafood dinners brought me back to earth and reminded me that I still needed to get ready for dinner. Nature does have a way of bringing someone away from their troubles. My favorite part of the entire experience was, by far, the golden sunset stretching across the miles of open water. The lower the sun, the more white-capping was introduced by the ocean. I belive that is how mother nature was telling seamen to leave the danger of the hungry night-dwellers and go home to their own hungry families.
Emerson and Thoreau are great writers and I agree with most of what they write. I enjoy reading their experiences and be able to remember mine. My experience is so different than Emerson or Thoreau's view of nature, yet it has very similar details that connect the two. I had a wonderful nature experience.
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